How Bad Was The KV-1?

This series tends to find a middle ground for polarized tanks, but the Soviet KV-1 heavy tank is a bit different. Many either don't think much of it or think it was great, despite its troubled development and service life.

Sources:
KV-1 Soviet Heavy Tanks of WWII by Jochen Vollert
The SU-152 and Related Vehicles by Yuri Igorevich Pasholok & Dana Lombardy
KV-2 Soviet Heavy Breakthrough Tank of WWII by Jochen Vollert
World War 2 In Review No. 32: Soviet Fighting Vehicles
KV-1 & 2 Heavy Tanks 1939-45 by Steven Zaloga & Peter Sarson
Armored Champion by Steven Zaloga

Check the channel "About" section for the link to the creator of my profile picture.

Songs used (in order from first to last):
Subnautica - Into the Unknown
Halo 3: ODST - Rain (Deference for Darkness)

Sound mods:
Epic Thunder (Pre-release)
Armored Warfare Crew Voices

Reddit: /u/spookston
Discord: See my Patreon page.

#warthunder​​​​​​​​​​​​ #tanks​​​​​​​​​​​​ #tankhistory

[phoenixfire]

The IS2 is a tank that rarely gets discussed in terms of its irl action, a video on that would be cool

[blackegret]

KV-1 in a nutshell: "Sergei, the transmission broke."

[staszektd]

"As the KV-1 became heavier and heavier the transmission issues became worse" sounds awfully German

[lonerangerv]

The KV is one of many vehicles where the perception, both at the time of service with soldiers and nowadays in popular history, does not really match up with its actual performance. Big scary tank with lots of armour and big gun is a big scary tank to the enemy and a symbol for allies regardless of its actual problems.

[cameronmoss]

The early KVs are an example of fighting as hard as you can with what you have (not detracting from other tanks that took the brunt of Barbarossa)

[asordidlobster]

The Cromwell series of tanks would be a good addition to this series.

[kennethreyes]

Ive bounced so many shells off of the KV-1S turret it’s hilarious. i remember bouncing a shell from what i think was a stug and ended up killing him after the bounce

[WelcomeToDERPLAND]

Literally any tank exist:

Transmission - "Aight imma head out."

[hklassehutten]

The KV still beats the HSTVL in one thing

It actually saw combat.

[patrickazzarella]

Who needs the tank to run for more than a couple of days when the average life span of the vehicle in combat was measured in hours.

[Doppler-hhnt]

I wish we could get more insight into the why certain decisions were made, like why was the power train not improved when obvious faults were shown, or why if the tank was not effective was development still perused? I get that hind-sight is 20/20 but you don't need hindsight to see that a 66hr engine life-span is terrible.

[andrews_lego_tanks_and_more]

I think a lot of the hype around this vehicle does come from games where reliability isn't really an issue, plus there are some amazing stories of Soviet crews using them. Overall I'd say the vehicle isn't terrible as it could prove effective, rather it was rushed into service and had issues that were never properly solved.

[banzaibomb]

Would love to see a How Good/Bad video for the Jumbo. Keep up the great work!

[jasonli]

it's the King Tiger of 1940: Huge gun and amazing armour, and cruddy everything else.

[ZombieBoy]

KV-1 led to Germany up-gunning their tanks to 88mm since that was the only reliable gun they could field that could penetrate it

[PrometheanGOld]

The prototype might be a decent event vehicle, nonetheless a great video on a vehicle I really like!

[BHuang]

"KV-1 exist"
Transmission: *Well, guess I'll die then..*

[thecelestialprince]

"Most people think very highly of it (the KV-1)" Really? I have never met someone who actually praised the KV-1 or KV-2, as most people I've met meme on it for its many short comings in conflicts like the winter war, with a exception being how no tank fielded by the German army could penetrate the KV-1 or KV-2's armor at the start of operation Barbarossa. Other than that I've heard little praise for the tank, so its surprising to hear you say that a lot of people think highly of the KV-1 for me at least.

[sealboyy]

Always love when you put that background music, brings back some nostalgia

[monticore]

while the tank wasn't very good I think it was an important milestone for soviet tank design